1 - APPROACH
WHY SOUTH AFRICA?
My paternal ancestral line includes that of The 1820 Settlers. They come for a family called Miller originating in England. They arrived on the eastern frontier of the fledgling Cape Colony, a wild area that had appeared to be underpopulated. However the 1820 Settler scheme was to create a buffer zone between the Colony and the troublesome indigenous beyond that eastern frontier. But nothing was quite as anticipated. And even looking back into history, there are many uncertainties and contradictions. I am intrigued by links across time that don't initially appear obvious. What you see below is an attempt to follow those links in order to explain my existence and perhaps yours too. It is a fun exploration. I hope you enjoy it. A slightly quirky approach.
The broader story or stories of the Eastern Cape and the 1820 Settlers is/are covered in many and varied ways. While I touch on those that seem applicable, this is my own story and so finds a meandering route through history that is relevant to me and to my particular ancestry.
This story starts at the end. This seemingly contradictory approach is a natural phenomenon in all history and most evident in family history. We are who we are not just because of our experiences. If we ponder how we came to be, how our parents and their ancestors coped we cross through all sorts of extraordinary events..
Why are we here?
What caused the events of individual experiences that led to this?
What past family situations led to this?
What world events created the conditions that influenced decisions to do this or that?
Simple questions. - Broad stories.
You may find my approach strange, a bit circuitous, but I feel that it is the best way to find the answers. The word cosmology comes to mind. While that really refers to astronomy, I find it appropriate too in the quest to find out who I really am – my place in existence.
This story concerns South Africa. I have other stories to follow too, but they are for other projects. Most of you have similar stories to explore and document.
I found the girl of my dreams under a tree in Africa. A beautiful Scottish girl. That may sound sentimental, slightly weird, but it is true. And wonderful. We have been happily married for over 40 years.
Our romance led to us building a house together and raising two daughters in South Africa. More about what that South Africa was about will follow later.
Why my wife was in South Africa in the first place is her story, but I can tell you that she is Scottish, she came out for a temporary job for a few years, met me and stayed for 18 years. She had left a gloomy London job for one in sunny East London in the Eastern Cape and stayed with an aunt and uncle who had emigrated there from Scotland many years before. They had settled in South Africa in the bright days of the British Empire much as several of my ancestors did; Watsons and Wells being just the key ones to our story, who were enticed out with their skills – and the privileges of being Europeans, white.
We, my family, now live in Scotland and have since 1999.
But all this has a story as to how that scenario would come about.
Actually this goes back hundreds of years. We start the greater story with the finding of the route around the Cape to link between Europe and the riches of the East. The Portuguese did that first, but then the Dutch established a replenishment base there and eventually the British managed to take control. If that didn't happen, I would not have been born and bred in the “Border” region of what became the Eastern Cape and my wife's relatives would not have settled there too, eventually enticing her out to stay with them for “a few years”.
My incentive is very personal even though this exploration is wide and draws in many other people. You will therefore find this story somewhat eclectic. But I hope entertaining.
